Several major crime cases are streaming through the Quinte Courthouse, with dates being set for ongoing pre-trial and preliminary hearings.
A Tweed man accused of murder will make his next appearance Jan. 5.
Samuel Koch, 36, who is facing a second-degree murder charge, will be up for a pre-trial hearing on that date.
Koch was originally charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 53-year-old Dartt MacPherson, but the Crown opted to proceed with a lesser charge of second-degree murder. MacPherson was found dead at home on Kinlin Road in Tweed, on Aug. 12.
A first-degree murder charge usually arises when police deem the alleged act to be planned and deliberate, but the Crown can chose to proceed on a lesser offence.
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Brandon Phillip George Baptiste, 25, charged with the first-degree murder in connection with the April 2 death of Kenneth Ferrill, 43, of Tyendinaga Mohawk First Nation Territory, has another court date scheduled for Jan. 15.
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A 16-year-old boy charged in connection with a fiery Highway 401 crash that killed a 30-year-old woman, in August, will be brought back to court Nov. 28.
Police revealed a pick up truck, being driven by a 16-year-old male from Belleville, was travelling westbound in the eastbound lanes and collided with an eastbound vehicle, in the area of Cannifton Road and mile marker 544, on Highway 401’s eastbound lanes.
A 30-year-old woman from Loyalist Township was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named pursuant to the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and theft over $5,000 of a motor vehicle.
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Two local accused are still among those before the courts after being charged in a major cross-border sting involving alleged illegal guns and drugs.
Derek Shorey, 33, of Belleville, who is charged with drug trafficking, will appear Jan. 12.
The case of Travis Hesketh, 35, of Tyendinaga, will be addressed Dec. 6.
Hesketh stands charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine and one count of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Four of the six local accused, charged among 18 people (the majority of the 18 are from elsewhere, including Quebec) in the Project Silkstone sweep, have already pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to jail for a variety of offences linked to guns and drugs.
Assistant Crown attorney Pardeep Bhachu confirmed “there is probably at least 10 accused that still need to have their matter heard.”
A preliminary hearing is set to commence next week for four of the remaining batch of accused, Bhachu said.
“They’re all co-accused on the same information,” she said, adding the Crown is alleging the four were operating as a cell. Hesketh and Shorey are not among the four and will be dealt with on separate dates.
The investigation began by targeting multiple criminal groups trafficking firearms and drugs along the Highway 401 corridor between the Greater Toronto Area through to Montreal, and revealed drug trafficking to the U.S. as well.
The 18-month investigation involved OPP, the RCMP, Quebec provincial police, Montreal police, the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Hundreds of officers participated in the investigation, which culminated with 22 simultaneous raids across the province and parts of Quebec.
Over the course of the probe, OPP say investigators seized 11,500 pills containing fentanyl, eight kilograms of cocaine and 7.5 kilograms of ecstasy, among other drugs and drug equipment.